Do you think the school is wrong in their decision?..Where to go from there...

Hi there... I thought due to the things I have had go worng with the schooling system I thought I would write a little advice on the things I have done so far to help me and maybe this can help someone...

The school system can be a wonderful thing for our kids...It can be a place for not only learning but also a place for our children to form relationships outside of our family that have the posibility to last forever...School is the place that our children have as a stepping stone to move onto the workplace...school is supposed to be not only educational but also a good experience for our children...A learning place for everything...

Unfortunately this is not always the truth and problems can arise and sometimes we as parents are not happy with decisions that are made or things that are said and done...So where can we go from here? What is out there to help the average parent to stand up to what we feel is the best thing for our child....

Recently I have had a bad desicion made by the school my son attended...They have decided that main steam school is not the place for my son to be and would prefer because of the times he is not present at school that they want him out...He is grade 12 and has a mental illness...He has times off when he is extremely high or extremely low...This is an illness!! Just like alot of other illnesses Mental illness is very real! But the school he attends does not seem to recognise it and have told me there is no policy in the education departments policies to say they have to...

My son wants to complete school..He wants to do it at this school...He wants to finish his education with his peers...Not be put into an education program that they feel is in the best for him...In a short word after all the losses this year for my son they want to take away the only thing left that is stable in his life apart from us right now...His right to an education in a mainstream school...

We do not think this is fair...I have learnt alot about the schooling system in the last couple of weeks..The school system can be very flexible...They can be as flexible as they want to be...And the education department will tell you this...So I thought I would put together a rough guide to help any other parent that might go through a similar situation to me...A rough guide on where do you go for help...

What to do when the school has made a decision that you think is not right...Do they have the final say?

Okay the first place to go is the childs teacher and voice your concerns to them...(in highschool this is a little harder if it is not about just one teacher) You discuss your concerns about what has happened or the approach a teacher made towards something...

Still No Joy well head of to the deputy or year co-ordinator and voice you thoughts and feelings there...Tell them dates and times and ask them what they are going to do about the whole thing...

If this still does not give you the desired outcome...Head of to the principle for a meeting with the teacher or the deputy and still voice you thoughts and feelings on this again...This is when its a good idea to keep records of dates and times and any other things that have gone on that you feel is not the right thing either...

Sometimes the school you are talking to will still not give you the outcome you feel to be fair and just so the education department is the next port of call in this whole process...Explain to the person at reception your grievences and ask to speak to someone who is the right person for your problem...There are people employed to help you in the education department...They will discuss it with you and see if you can be helped by them...If not this is not your last place to call...At this stage alot of parents just move their child from that school and start them at another unfortunately this is not always an option for some...Either for the fact that there is no other school in the area or like mine my son likes familiarity around and starting at another school is not an option for him...

The next place if you still have no answers is the complaint against schools number in your state...Just ring headoffice in your state and ask for the complaints against schools number and tell them of your situation and your thoughts and feelings again...They are very helpful and are willing to talk and sort somethings out for you...I found them helpful...

Then there are other steps if you are like me and are really stressed and really upset with the school and just can not handle the way they speak to you or the way they try to hide the real reasons on their decsions...Find a consumer advocate...Tell them your problems and the reasons you feel the treatment has been unfair...If they think you have a case of complaint they will then take over for you from there...Asking the school for documentation to back up their decisions and their actions...In our case they have even asked the school to contact them directly instead of us for anything they wish to discuss...

These are just a rough guide to give you an idea on what is out there for you as a parent to help you...My son has been told because there is no room in mainstream school for a person with mental illness he has to find another educational program like Tafe or something else that is not mainstream school...Mental illness is a real illness a real thing that is just as real any other illness out there...As it has been said by many a person if this illness was say Luekemia we would not be having this discussion with the school...Again I will say as I have in so many of my articles about my son...Just because you can not see mental illness does not mean it does not exist...

I just wanted to share the things I have learnt in the past couple of weeks with you all and if they can help one person now or in the future...This advice is worth the time spent writing it...

Have a great day
Cheers
Angie